Method and apparatus for recognition of patient activity

ABSTRACT

A system and method for training a system for monitoring administration of medication. The method includes the steps of a method for training a medication administration monitoring apparatus, comprising the steps of defining one or more predetermined medications and then acquiring information from one or more data sources of a user administering medication. A first network is trained to recognize a first step of a medication administration sequence, and then a second network is trained to recognize a second step of a medication administration sequence based upon the training of the first network.

FIELD

This invention relates generally to recognition of patient activity, andmore particularly to a method and apparatus for the recognition ofpatients properly taking their medication for use with a medicationmonitoring system employing video, audio and other data captured,allowing for a diverse set of data to be employed in determining properpatient activity related to medication adherence.

BACKGROUND

It has been widely recognized that methods and systems for insuringproper medication ingestion or administration by individuals are veryimportant in defending against unnecessary sickness, deaths and otherproblems. Giving instructions and then letting patients fend forthemselves has been shown not to work particularly well. This is becauseit is not only the improper ingestion of medicines that is the primarycause of medical danger. Rather, an overall lack of sufficient patientguidance is also part of the problem. As has been shown in regards tovarious public health medication administration situations, such asadministration of tuberculosis medication by the WHO, Directly ObservedTreatment (DOT) improves compliance of patients. Global TuberculosisControl: A Short Update to the 2009 Report, World Health Organization,2009. As is shown in this report, funding for implementing DOT programsis high. Thus, the ability to implement such a program with less of afinancial burden would be desirable.

The total healthcare cost of drug-related morbidity, including pooradherence, is estimated at $290 billion per year in the US. Treatment ofpatients with poor adherence can require twice the resources from thehealthcare system than treatment of more compliant individuals.Mortality and morbidity rates are much higher for patients who do notfollow their prescribed drug therapy, especially for patients sufferingfrom a chronic illness. Currently, 75% of healthcare spending in the USis directed towards treatment of chronic disease. These same chronicallyill patients who are also non-adherent to their medication prescriptionsare twice as likely to be hospitalized. Low levels of medicationadherence also contribute to the high costs of clinical trials. In theUS, patient recruitment is estimated at $6533 per individual and up tothree times that amount to replace someone who has left. As a result,the number of clinical trials conducted abroad has been increasing. By2012, an estimated 65% of FDA-regulated clinical trials will beconducted outside of the US, raising issues around regulation andsupervision.

Dr Lars Osterberg, M.D. and Dr, Terence Blaschke have reported in theNew England Journal of Medicine, Adherence to Medication, (N Engl J Med2005; 353:487-97) 2005 an alarming lack of adherence to requiredmedication protocol, further noting that while the average rates ofadherence in clinical trials is categorized as “high”, this number stillcomprises only rates of 43 to 78 percent. Most importantly, the authorsnote “The ability of physicians to recognize nonadherence is poor, andinterventions to improve adherence have had mixed results.” Adherence,p. 487. The authors conclude “Poor adherence to medication regimens iscommon, contributing to substantial worsening of disease, death andincreased healthcare costs.” Adherence, p. 494. The Trend Repot Series,2008 Patient Adherence Update: New Approaches for Success, October 2008,report similar discouraging statistics. This broad range may possiblycontribute to the public confidence in the FDA approval process and theimportance of continued surveillance of a drug throughout the process.Furthermore, it may help to explain why, according to the Journal of theAmerican Medical Association (JAMA May 1, 2002), one out of every fivenew drugs that comes to market in the US is found to have serious orlife-threatening adverse effects - unknown or undisclosed at the time ofapproval. Similar failure to adhere to medication prescriptions plaguesthe population health management field. It is against this backdrop ofpoor adherence, and potential danger to patients, that the presentinvention operates.

Traditional monitoring methods have problems with reliability and cost,and may place a substantial burden on the patient. Pill counting andpatient interviews are unreliable ways of measuring medicationadherence, as is evidenced in the above studies, as they offer noinformation on the time of day medication is taken or whether thepatient has skipped doses entirely. Self-reporting by individuals, evenemploying ePRO diaries, IVRS or web portal communications have also beenshown to be untrustworthy as many patients fail to record accurate data.Technologically advanced solutions, such as digital pill container capsand smart packaging report only when the patient has opened themedication container and cannot confirm medication administration. Smartpills, while accurate, are expensive, require a modification to themanufacturing process, and are inconvenient for the patient. Even ifpatients are not intentionally deceptive, barriers to medicationadherence such as the perceived impact of a medicine, knowledge aboutillness, forgetfulness, or lack of social support, are contributingfactors to why 75% of Americans do not take their medicine asprescribed.

An extremely effective way to confirm medication adherence is throughdirect observation. The WHO's Directly Observed Treatment, short course(DOTs) program has radically improved overall compliance rates of TBpatients. Indeed, such direct observation is typically employed in phase1 clinical trials, where assurance of adherence is critical.Unfortunately, the labor-intensive nature of the program—hiring careworkers to directly monitor patients—is expensive, and places asubstantial burden on the patient. The inventors of the presentinvention provide an automated virtual direct observation solution,AiView® that may be applied to larger populations for a fraction of thecost of DOTs. AiView® leverages the increasing familiarity and access towebcam-enabled devices by incorporating a gesture and object recognitionmonitoring platform. Traditionally, participants attend introductionsand follow ups for clinical trials, or in other disease managementsituations, in-person. Once the initial startup has been performed,however, patients are typically on their own to confirm that they areproperly taking their medication. Infrequent checkups, typically everyfew weeks or longer, have proven to be insufficient. A number of systemsexist that provide instructions to a user regarding when to take amedication and records when the user indicates that a medication hasbeen taken. U.S. Pat. No. 7,359,214 describes such a system. A device isprovided that provides instruction to a patient regarding medications totake. Furthermore, the system may provide a method for determining thatthe prescription is appropriate given the patient's conditions, andother medications he or she may already be taking The system may monitorthe dispensing of medicine in accordance with a predetermined treatmentprotocol. While such a system provides many improvements for easing aburden on the patient, this system suffers in many ways

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/839,723, filed Aug. 16, 2007, titledMobile Wireless Medication Management System provides a medicationmanagement system employing mobile devices and an imaging technology sothat a user is able to show a pill to be taken to the system, and thesystem can then identify the medication. Patient histories are availableto an administrator, including various vital signs as measured by thesystem. Images may also be taken of the patient, provider, medicationcontainer or the like. While the system professes to ensure adherence toa protocol, the system only provides such help if requested by a user.There is in fact no particular manner in which to ensure actualadherence or ingestion of the medication, or the relationship ofadherence to the efficacy or safety of the drug over time. Whenrequiring adherence to a predetermined protocol for a clinical trial,this is particularly relevant. Similarly, there is no mention ofnon-pill based medications. Furthermore, there is an assumption that amedication has been already trained to be recognized by the system, anassumption that may cause a problem given the number of differentpossible medications, including generic medications, that may be takenby an individual in accordance with a particular prescription.

Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an apparatus that overcomesthe drawbacks of the prior art.

SUMMARY

In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/620,686, filed Nov. 18, 2009,titled Method and Apparatus for Verification of MedicationAdministration Adherence, abandoned; U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/558,377, filed Jul. 26, 2012, titled Method and Apparatus orVerification of Medication Administration Adherence, now U.S. Pat. No.8,781,856; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/295,485, filed Jun. 4,2014, titled Method and Apparatus for Verification of MedicationAdministration Adherence, currently pending; U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/646,383, filed Dec. 23, 2009, titled Method and Apparatusfor Verification of Clinical Trial Adherence, abandoned; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/558,380, filed Jul. 26, 2012, titled Method andApparatus for Verification of Clinical Trial Adherence, now U.S. Pat.No. 8,731,961; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/244,035, filed Apr.3, 2014, titled Method and Apparatus for Verification of MedicationAdherence, currently pending; U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/646,603, filed Dec. 23, 2009, titled Method and Apparatus forManagement of Clinical Trials, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,666,781; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/153,042, filed Jan. 12, 2014, titled Method andApparatus for Managing Medication Adherence, currently pending; U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/728,721, filed Mar. 22, 2010, titledApparatus and Method for Collection of Protocol Adherence Data,currently pending; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/815,037, filedJun. 14, 2010, titled Apparatus and Method for Recognition of PatientActivities when Obtaining Protocol Adherence Data, currently pending;U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/189,518, filed Jul. 24, 2011, titledMethod and Apparatus for Monitoring Medication Adherence, currentlypending; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/235,387, filed Sep. 18,2011, titled Apparatus and Method for Recognition of Patient Activities,currently pending; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/674,209, filedNov. 12, 2012, titled Method and Apparatus for Identification, currentlypending; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/674,459, filed Nov. 12,2012, titled Method and Apparatus for Recognition of Inhaler Actuation,currently pending; the contents of these applications being incorporatedherein by reference, the inventors of the present invention haveproposed a system, method and apparatus that allow for complete controland verification of adherence to a prescribed medication protocol ormachine or apparatus use in a clinical trial or disease managementsetting, whether in a health care provider's care, or whenself-administered in a homecare situation by a patient.

These applications present the only medication management system thatmay determine whether a user is actually following a protocol, includingproperly determining whether the user has ingested their medication,such as by placing the medication in their mouth or the like, in realtime, provide additional assistance in real time to a user, startingwith instructions, such as audio and/or video/visual instructions, andthe like, and moving up to contact from a medication administrator if itis determined that the user would need or benefit from such assistancein any medical adherence situation, including clinical trial settings,home care settings, healthcare administration locations, such as nursinghomes, clinics, hospitals and the like, and in clinical trial settings.Additional training may be provided in accordance with the real-timefeedback so that the user can be further assisted in properly performingsteps associated with proper medication adherence.

The inventive solution, in accordance with one or more embodiments ofthe present invention, recognizes the need to be able to apply the abovedescribed system to determine whether a user has taken their medicationin a great number of scenarios where knowledge of the visualcharacteristics of the medication to be taken may not be known, or wherethe number of medications to be monitored by the system may be verylarge. In accordance with one or more embodiments of the presentinvention, a plurality of input data types are preferably employed tonot only identify the medication, but to also determine whether a userhas taken their medication. In particular, video and audio data may beemployed to determine whether a user has taken their medication.Additionally, one or more of time on task data, past medicationadherence data for the user or a population, usability data,intervention data and the like may be employed in one or more variouscombinations to determine whether a user has properly taken theirmedications. Additionally, the combination of these various data may beperformed employing a fusion learning process, or one or more othersupervised or unsupervised learning processes. In such a manner, themultiple data sources are employed to provide a best predictive modelfor classifying future input data and determining whether a user hasproperly performed one or more activities, and more particularly todetermine whether a user has properly taken their medication.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part beobvious and will in part be apparent from the specification anddrawings.

The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relationof one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others, and theapparatus embodying features of construction, combinations of elementsand arrangement of parts that are adapted to affect such steps, all asexemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of theinvention will be indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference is made tothe following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a flowchart diagram depicting a method for training a computersystem in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart diagram depicting a method for training a computersystem using a learning process in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart diagram depicting a method for training a computersystem in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart diagram depicting a method for training a computersystem using a data source combination using a learning process inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart diagram depicting a method for training a computersystem using a further data source combination using a plurality oflearning processes; and.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart diagram depicting a method for training a computersystem using an additional data source combination using a plurality oflearning processes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention will now be described making reference to the followingdrawings in which like reference numbers denote like structure or steps.

The method may be implemented on a general purpose computer, apurposefully built system, or any other computing system including oneor more non-transitory computer readable storage medium. Variouscommunication systems may be employed, such as wifi, cellular or otherprivate network. The computing system may be a local device includingprocessor, memory, camera and display. Alternatively, one or more ofthese elements may be located at a remote location, such as employingcloud storage and/or processing.

The system may be further applied to any type of visual recognitionsystem, such as facial recognition or the like. The system may also beapplied to voice or other sound recognition, thus allowing for a numberof reference sounds to be trained, and other sounds to be indexedtherefrom in the manner as described above. Other biometricidentification systems may be included such as fingerprints, retinalscan, or the like.

Referring first to FIG. 1, a method for training a computer system forassisting in determining proper medication adherence, is provided. As isshown in FIG. 1, images are acquired at step 110. Preferably, inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention, suchimages are of a user administering a medication, such as a medicationpill being held in the hand of the user. Such images may compriseindividual still images, or may include one or more sets of sequentialimages, or one or more video sequences. Processing then preferablypasses to step 120, where a first network is employed in accordance withone or more supervised or unsupervised learning processes, such as thoseknown to one of ordinary skill in the art, in order to train thecomputer system to recognize the hand of the user. After such traininghas taken place, processing preferably passes to step 130 where thetraining data is employed in a hand detector element for detecting thehands of a future user when administering medication.

Processing then passes to step 140 where a second network is employed inaccordance with one or more supervised or unsupervised learningprocesses, such as those known to one of ordinary skill in the art, inorder to train the computer system to recognize a region including thefinger-pill-finger region from the acquired one or more images. Suchsecond network preferably builds on, or employs the first networkemployed in step 120. Thus, preferably, learning performed from thefirst network, or the output therefrom, is used as the input to thesecond network. In such a manner, the search space for the secondnetwork is bounded as the results from the first network are employed.Thus, this second network is preferably trained to determine afinger-pill-finger region from the determined hand regions identified bythe first network. After such training has taken place, processingpreferably passes to step 150 where the training data is employed in afinger-pill-finger detector element for detecting the finger-pill-fingerregion of a future user when administering medication.

Processing then passes to step 160 where a third network is employed inaccordance with one or more supervised or unsupervised learningprocesses, such as those known to one of ordinary skill in the art, inorder to train the computer system to recognize a particular medicationpill from the acquired one or more images. Such third network preferablybuilds on, or employs the second network employed in step 140. Thus,preferably, learning performed from the second network, or the outputtherefrom, is used as the input to the third network. In such a manner,the search space for the third network is bounded as the results fromthe second network are employed. Thus, this third network is preferablytrained to determine a pill region from the determinedfinger-pill-finger regions identified by the second network. After suchtraining has taken place, processing preferably passes to step 170 wherethe training data is employed in a pill detector element for detectingthe particular pill being administered by a future user whenadministering medication.

While the method has been described in a particular order, it ispossible that any order of training and deployment may be employed.Further, it is possible to use any sub-group of steps if training onless than, or more than, the noted three steps. The described supervisedor unsupervised learning processes may include fusion learning, deeplearning processes, or other known learning procedures. Furthermore, amulti-level learning process may be employed in which a predefinednumber of levels are used to detect the hand region, a second predefinednumber of levels are employed to detect the finger-pill-finger region,and a third predefined number of regions are employed to detect thepill. In such a manner, the images need only be passed through thesystem one time, each of the regions being defined as noted. While theprocess of hand reason, finger-pill-finger region and other predefinedregions are described, any number of layers related to any patient selfadministration of medication or other medication are applicable to thepresent system. Therefore, while the section of pills in the hand of theuser is shown, detection of use of an inhaler, injectable medication,reading a value off of a glucose meter or other medical device, or anyother medication administration process may be addressed in accordancewith various embodiments of the present invention.

Referring next to FIG. 2, a process for training each of the first,second and third networks is described. As is shown in FIG. 2, pixelsare imaged from the one or more acquired images at step 210. Afteracquisition, processing passes to step 220, wherein a plurality oftraining levels N1-N2 are employed to learn the features of targetobjects in the acquired images in accordance with known unsupervised orsupervised learning techniques. While two layers are shown, any numberof layers may preferably be employed, and indeed, each such interfacebetween two levels may be applied any number of time, such as the numberof times as described above with respect to FIG. 1. Processing thenpasses to step 230 where a classifier is then built employing one ormore of features learned from step 220. Finally, an object may bedetected at step 240 employing the classifier built at step 230.

Referring next to FIG. 3, a method for training a computer system forassisting in determining proper medication adherence is provided. Whilethe embodiment depicted in FIG. 3 describes a medication adherence andadministration process for the administration of oral medication, suchas one or more pills or tablets, to injectable, inhalable, sublingual,or other medication administration processes. Each situation, aplurality of particular steps may be defined, each of such steps takingthe place of one of the steps as will be described in accordance withFIG. 3. In keeping with various embodiments of FIG. 3, each network maytherefore be used in training the system to recognize one of thepredefined steps above. As is shown in FIG. 3, one or more images areacquired at step 310. Preferably, in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the present invention, such images are of a userperforming a sequence of steps to administer a medication, such asincluding the face of a user, detecting a medication pill in the mouthof the user, and other images so related. Such images may compriseindividual still images, or may include one or more sets of sequentialimages, or one or more video sequences. Processing then preferablypasses to step 315, where a first network is employed in accordance withone or more supervised or unsupervised learning processes, such as thoseknown to one of ordinary skill in the art, in order to train thecomputer system to recognize the face of the user. After such traininghas taken place, processing preferably passes to step 320 where thetraining data is employed in a face detector element for detecting theface of a future user when administering medication.

Processing then passes to step 325 where a second network is employed inaccordance with one or more supervised or unsupervised learningprocesses, such as those known to one of ordinary skill in the art, inorder to train the computer system to detect a mouth of the user withinthe detected face region of the user from the acquired one or moreimages. Such second network preferably builds on, or employs the firstnetwork employed in step 320. Thus, preferably, learning performed fromthe first network, or the output therefrom, is used as the input to thesecond network. In such a manner, the search space for the secondnetwork is bounded as the results from the first network are employed.Thus, this second network is preferably trained to determine a mouthregion from the determined face regions identified by the first network.After such training has taken place, processing preferably passes tostep 330 where the training data is employed in a mouth detector elementfor detecting the mouth region of a future user when administeringmedication.

Processing then passes to step 335 where a third network is employed inaccordance with one or more supervised or unsupervised learningprocesses, such as those known to one of ordinary skill in the art, inorder to train the computer system to recognize whether the detectedmouth of the user is open or not from the acquired one or more images.Such third network preferably builds on, or second the first networkemployed in step 320. Thus, preferably, learning performed from thesecond network, or the output therefrom, is used as the input to thethird network. In such a manner, the search space for the second networkis bounded as the results from the first network are employed. Thus,this second network is preferably trained to determine whether the mouthof the user is open or not from the determined mouth regions identifiedby the second network. After such training has taken place, processingpreferably passes to step 340 where the training data is employed in anopen mouth detector element for detecting whether the mouth of the useris open or closed when a future user is administering medication.

Processing then preferably passes to step 345, where a fourth network isemployed in accordance with one or more supervised or unsupervisedlearning processes, such as those known to one of ordinary skill in theart, in order to train the computer system to recognize whether thetongue of a user is raised within the detected mouth of the user. Suchfourth network preferably builds on, or employs the third networkemployed in step 335. Thus, preferably, learning performed from thethird network, or the output therefrom, is used as the input to thefourth network. In such a manner, the search space for the fourthnetwork is bounded as the results from the third network are employed.Thus, this fourth network is preferably trained to determine whether thetongue of a user is raised from the determined open mouth regionsidentified by the third network. After such training has taken place,processing preferably passes to step 350 where the training data isemployed in a raised tongue detector element for detecting the face of afuture user when administering medication.

Processing then passes to step 355 where a fifth network is employed inaccordance with one or more supervised or unsupervised learningprocesses, such as those known to one of ordinary skill in the art, inorder to train the computer system to detect whether on or moremedication pills are located on or under the mouth of the user from theacquired one or more images. Such fifth network preferably builds on, oremploys the third and/or fourth networks employed in steps 335 and/or345. Thus, preferably, learning performed from the third and fourthnetwork, or the output therefrom, is used as the input to the fifthnetwork. In such a manner, the search space for the fifth network isbounded as the results from the third and/or fourth networks areemployed. Thus, this fifth network is preferably trained to determine apill in mouth or under tongue region from the determined mouth andlifted tongue regions identified by the third and/or forth networks.After such training has taken place, processing preferably passes tostep 360 where the training data is employed in a pill on/under tonguedetector element for detecting the whether a medication pill is locatedon/under the tongue of a future user when administering medication.

Processing then passes to step 365 where a sixth network is employed inaccordance with one or more supervised or unsupervised learningprocesses, such as those known to one of ordinary skill in the art, inorder to train the computer system to recognize the identity of aparticular medication pill from the acquired one or more images. Suchsixth network preferably builds on, or employs the fifth networkemployed in step 355. Thus, preferably, learning performed from thefifth network, or the output therefrom, is used as the input to thesixth network. In such a manner, the search space for the sixth networkis bounded as the results from the fifth network are employed. Thus,this sixth network is preferably trained to properly identify amedication pill from the determined pill on or under tongue regionsidentified by the fifth network. After such training has taken place,processing preferably passes to step 370 where the training data isemployed in a pill identity detector for recognizing the identity of amedication pill when a future user is administering medication.

While the method has been described in a particular order, it ispossible that any order of training and deployment may be employed.Further, it is possible to use any sub-group of steps if training onless than, or more than, the noted set of steps. Furthermore, amulti-level learning process may be employed in which a predefinednumber of levels are used to detect each of the noted regions. In such amanner, the images need only be passed through the system one time, eachof the regions being defined as noted. The described supervised orunsupervised learning processes may include fusion learning, deeplearning processes, or other known learning procedures. While amedication pill is described, a medication tablet, capsule, film or thelike may be employed in accordance with one or more alternativeembodiments of the invention.

Referring next to FIG. 4, a method for training a computer system usinga data source combination process employing an unsupervised orsupervised learning process in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention is shown. As is shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of data sources1-N (see elements 405, 415, 425, 435) where one or more different typesof data are acquired. Such data sources may include one or more of imagedata, video data, audio data, time on task data, adherence data, etc.,or any other types of original or derivative data. Such data may furtherinclude one or more pieces of information entered by another user, suchas a doctor, healthcare professional, or other individual. Such data mayalso include one or more pieces of information self-reported by theuser, such as in response to one or more questions posed to the user atan appropriate time. Such data may further comprise one or morederivative forms of data accumulated in response to medication adherencemonitoring data. For example, the input data my comprise one or morebits of information that describe one or more patients' characteristics.These features may be provided to the noted classifier (see step 445below) to profile patients from the long term perspective and predictpatients' behavior over a next short period of time. In addition,intervention data, such as when a health care provider intervenes with apatient, may be employed to predict which interventions are most likelyto be successful. Thus, it is possible to also use the inventiveframework to learn the relationship between the features of interventiondata and the features of multiple sources data collected from patient.In such a manner, the below classifier 445 may be built to suggest amost effective intervention strategy to a particular patient.

In this particular embodiment of the invention, this data is preferablyprovided to an unsupervised or supervised learning process, preferablyemploying a deep neural networks. Such a process is preferably similarto one or more of the above-described learning processes, where theinput data may be comprised from any of the above noted sources. Inaccordance with this preferred embodiment of the invention, the shareddata representations are preferably related to determining whether oneor more steps associated with proper administration have been properlyperformed.

Once processing at step 445 has been completed, processing passes tostep 455, where a classifier is built to allow for the classification offuture data. In accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention, the future data is preferably related to the properadministration of medication. Finally, at step 465, upon use formonitoring medication administration, data is acquired from one or moreof data sources 1-N, and then this data is classified as a targeted,desired action, preferably in accordance with proper medicationadministration. Also, additional human input and more data collected astime goes by may be employed to continuously or intermittently updatethe learning process to improve performance of the system over time.

Referring next to FIG. 5, a method for training a computer system usinga data source combination process employing an unsupervised orsupervised learning process in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention is shown. As is shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of data sources1-N (see elements 505, 515, 525, 535) where one or more different typesof data are acquired. Such data sources may include one or more of imagedata, video data, audio data, time on task data, adherence data, etc.,or any other types of original or derivative data. In this particularembodiment of the invention, each individual data acquired from eachindividual data source is preferably provided to a correspondingunsupervised or supervised learning process (510, 520, 530, 540). Eachsuch learning process is preferably similar to one or more of theabove-described learning processes. In accordance with this preferredembodiment of the invention, the shared data representations arepreferably related to determining whether one or more steps associatedwith proper administration have been properly performed.

After such individual learning processes are employed, the learned datais then preferably provided to an unsupervised or supervised learningprocess, preferably employing a deep neural network at step 545. Such aprocess is preferably similar to one or more of the above-describedlearning processes, where the input data may be comprised from any ofthe above noted sources. In accordance with this preferred embodiment ofthe invention, the shared data representations are preferably related todetermining whether one or more steps associated with properadministration have been properly performed.

Once processing at step 545 has been completed, processing passes tostep 555, where a classifier is built to allow for the classification offuture data. In accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention, the future data is preferably related to the properadministration of medication. Finally, at step 565, upon use formonitoring medication administration, data is acquired from one or moreof data sources 1-N, and then this data is classified as a targeted,desired action, preferably in accordance with proper medicationadministration.

Referring next to FIG. 6, a method for training a computer system usinga data source combination process employing an unsupervised orsupervised learning process in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention is shown. As is shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of data sources1-N (see elements 605, 615, 625, 635) where one or more different typesof data are acquired. Such data sources may include one or more of imagedata, video data, audio data, time on task data, adherence data, etc.,or any other types of original or derivative data. In this particularembodiment of the invention, each individual data acquired from eachindividual data source is preferably provided to a correspondingunsupervised or supervised learning process (610, 620, 630, 640). Eachsuch learning process is preferably similar to one or more of theabove-described learning processes. In accordance with this preferredembodiment of the invention, the shared data representations arepreferably related to determining whether one or more steps associatedwith proper administration have been properly performed.

Once processing at steps 610, 620, 630, 640 have been completed,processing passes to step 655, where a classifier is built to allow forthe classification of future data. In accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention, the future data is preferablyrelated to the proper administration of medication. Finally, at step665, upon use for monitoring medication administration, data is acquiredfrom one or more of data sources 1-N, and then this data is classifiedas a targeted, desired action, preferably in accordance with propermedication administration.

As the system is employed over time, additional input images may beemployed to further train any of the one or more detectors as notedabove. Thus, various facial features, etc. may shift over time, and theaddition of these further images to a training set of images may beemployed in order to further update the recognition properties of thesystem. In such a manner, it is contemplated that any of the particularrecognition tasks may be kept up to date, and adjust to changingconditions, while maintaining a proper recognition. Thus, if the systemis employed to recognize the face of a user to determine the identitythereof, as the person ages, or their face otherwise changes, theseadditional images may be employed in a training sequence as describedabove in order to further allow for flexibility and accuracy in therecognition task.

While various embodiments of the invention describe the use of video,image, and other data, the use of audio, derivative, or other data aloneor in combination, is contemplated in accordance with the variousembodiment of the invention, any other adherence data may be employed.For example when trying to determine proper medication administration bya user, historical adherence data or other information may be combinedwith other input data to aid in determining patient activity

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those madeapparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and,because certain changes may be made in carrying out the above method andin the construction(s) set forth without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in theabove description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that this description and the followingclaims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features ofthe invention herein described and all statements of the scope of theinvention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

What is claimed:
 1. A method for training a medication administrationmonitoring apparatus, comprising the steps of: defining one or morepredetermined medications; acquiring one or more images of a useradministering medication; training a first network to recognize a handportion of the one or more images of the user; training a second networkto recognize a finger-pill-finger portion of the one or more images ofthe user based upon the training of the first network; and training athird network to recognize a pill portion of the one or more images ofthe user based upon the training of the second network.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the training of each network is performed in accordancewith a supervised learning process.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereinthe training of each network is performed in accordance with anunsupervised learning process.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein thetraining of a plurality of the networks are performed in sequence,employing the image processing system a single time.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein upon use of the trained first, second and thirdnetworks to process images, utilizing one or more of these processedimages to further train one or more of the first, second and thirdnetworks.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:receiving audio data associated with the medication administration; andemploying the received audio data to train one or more of the first,second and third networks.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprisingthe steps of: receiving additional input data associated with themedication administration; and employing the additional input dataassociated with the medication administration.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein the additional input data is received from the user.
 9. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the additional input data is received from anautomated system.
 10. A method for training a medication administrationmonitoring apparatus, comprising the steps of: defining one or morepredetermined medications; acquiring information from one or more datasources of a user administering medication; training a first network torecognize a first step of a medication administration sequence; andtraining a second network to recognize a second step of a medicationadministration sequence based upon the training of the first network.11. A method for training a medication administration monitoringapparatus, comprising the steps of: defining one or more predeterminedmedications; acquiring one or more images of a user administeringmedication; training a first network to recognize a face portion of auser from the one or more images; training a second network to recognizea mouth portion of the user from the one or more images based upon thetraining of the first network; training a third network to recognize anopen mouth of the user from the one or more images based upon thetraining of the second network; training a fourth network to recognize araised tongue of the user from the one or more images based upon thetraining of the third network; training a fifth network to recognize amedication pill on or under the tongue of the user from the one or moreimages based upon the training of the fourth network; and training asixth network to recognize the identity of the medication pill from theone or more images based upon the training of the fifth network.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the training of each network is performed inaccordance with a supervised learning process.
 13. The method of claim11, wherein the training of each network is performed in accordance withan unsupervised learning process.
 14. The method of claim 11, whereinthe training of a plurality of the networks are performed in sequence,employing the image processing system a single time.
 15. The method ofclaim 11, wherein upon use of the trained networks to process images,utilizing one or more of these processed images to further train one ormore of the networks.
 16. The method of claim 11, further comprising thesteps of: receiving audio data associated with the medicationadministration; and employing the received audio data to train one ormore of the networks.
 17. The method of claim 11, further comprising thesteps of: receiving manually input data associated with the medicationadministration; and employing the manually input data associated withthe medication administration.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein themanually input data is received from the user.
 19. The method of claim17, wherein the additional input data is system generated data.
 20. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising the step of confirming that theone or more predetermined medications cover a desired spectrum ofpossible medications.